A big win for the Owen Sound Attack in OHL play as they downed Sault Ste. Marie 4-3. The Soo led 2-1 in the third period before 2 goals by Marc Franchini put Owen Sound into the drivers seat. Joey Hishon had a goal and an assist as he was named 1st star of the game. The Attack now have 60 points on the season and hold a 7 point lead over the Kitchener Rangers for the 8th and final playoff spot. Owen Sound’s magic number of wins or losses is 4 now. The Erie Otters lost to London last night 2-1 so the Attack are just 4 points back of 7th spot now. Tonight, the Attack play in Saginaw. Game time is 7:30 PM.
Elsewhere in the Ontario Hockey League:
Whalers 6 Rangers 3
At Kitchener, Ont., Kaine Geldart, Ryan Hayes and Beau Schmitz scored for Plymouth. Dan Kelly had a goal and an assist, while Alex Aleardi and Jeff Skinner added goals for the Rangers (24-32-3-2). Matt Hackett made 44 saves for the Whalers, earning his 30th win of the season. Kitchener netminding duty was split between Parker Van Buskirk, who allowed four goals on 16 shots, and Mike Morrison, who stopped 19 of 21 in replacement.
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Majors 7 Bulls 4
At Mississauga, Ont., Swedish import William Wallen scored a pair of third-period goals to lift the Majors over Belleville. David Corrente, Mike Pelech, Kaspars Daugavins, Devante Smith-Pelly and Casey Cizikas had the other goals for Mississauga (35-24-1-2), which beat the conference-leading Bulls for the third time in four meetings this season. Cody Alcock, Nick Palmieri, Brett Mackie and Nick Pageau scored for the Bulls (42-16-2-2) as Belleville saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end.
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Knights 2 Otters 1 (OT)
At London, Ont., John Tavares reached the 50-goal plateau for the second time in his OHL career, scoring the overtime winner as the Knights edged Erie. Justin Taylor tied the game early in the third period for London (43-16-1-2). Zack Torquato had the lone marker for the Otters (30-26-3-1).
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Sting 4 Spitfires 2
At Sarnia, Ont., Justin DiBenedetto scored twice and added an assist to help the Sting end Windsor’s 10-game winning streak. Jamie Arniel and Brett Appio also scored for Sarnia (30-24-3-3). Dale Mitchell and Andrei Loktionov found the net for the Spitfires (53-7-0-1).
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Battalion 6 IceDogs 0
At Brampton, Ont., Thomas McCollum stopped 28 shots for his league-leading seventh shutout of the season as the Battalion blanked Niagara. Matt Clark, Scott Tanski, Jason Dale, Craig Moore, Derek Gregorack and Evgeny Grachev provided the goal scoring for Brampton (40-18-1-1), which reached the 40-win plateau for the second straight season. Cody Hodgson contributed three assists. Jeremy Smith made 36 saves for the IceDogs (25-27-4-6).
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Frontenacs 4 Petes 3
At Kingston, Ont., Brian Lashoff scored with less than six minutes remaining in the third period as the Frontenacs put a dent in Peterborough’s playoff hopes. Nathan Moon and George Lovatsis had a goal and an assist each for Kingston (15-35-6-3). James Marsden also scored. Tony Romano, Brett Theberge and Justin Larson replied for the Petes (25-33-1-2).
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Storm 6 67’s 4
At Guelph, Ont., Taylor Beck scored twice as the Storm defeated Ottawa. Matt Kennedy, Brandon Buck, Time Campbell and Denis Hollenstein added goals for Guelph (31-23-4-3). Nathan Martine had four assists. Travis Gibbons, Stephen Blunden, Anthony Nigro and Thomas Kiriakou scored for the 67’s (33-20-5-2).
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Wolves 4 Generals 3
At Sudbury, Ont., Matt Dias scored a pair of second-period goals to give the Wolves the win over Oshawa. Chris VanLaren and Marcus Foligno also scored for Sudbury (25-30-2-4). Brett Parnham had two goals and an assist for the Generals (24-31-2-4), while Jeff Brown added a goal and an assist.
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